Slack or cuttings removing device for kerf-cutting machines



Nov. 14, 1944. w. T. MCCULLOUGH SLACK OR CUTTINGS REMOVING DEVICES FOR KERF-CUTTING MACHINES Filed Now 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l ON m I N V EN TOR.

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ATTORNEY Nov. 14, 1944. MCCULLOU H 2,362,837

SLACK OR CUTTINGS REMOVING DEVICES FOR KERF-CUTTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A r TODNEY Patented Nov. 14, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE FOR KERF-CUTTING MACHINES William T. Mcohuough, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Goodman Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 5, 1942, Serial No. 464,594 4 slant (01. 262-40) This invention relates to improvements in slack or cuttings removing devices for kerf-cutting machines, and more particularly to cuttings removingdevices of the screw or helical conveyer type. The present application is a continuation in part of myPatent No. 2,320,004, dated May 25, 1943.

Among-the objects of the present invention is to provide meansto insure the positive feeding of the'cuttings'into the helical conveyer. A further object is to provide an angularly adjustable extension ordischarge tube for the conveyor, havirig a conveyer-element mounted therein for the I full length of the adjustable portion of said-tube,

' sothat the cuttings can be positively discharged therefrom, at various angles including an upwardly inclined angle, and ata distance from the machine.

F A still further object is to provide an arrangementfor directing the discharge of the cuttings into a pile of loose material previously formed on theground, so. asto reduce the amount of coal dust released. into-the air.

; The invention may best be understood by,ref-

erence to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

prFigure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the rear end of a kerf-cutting machine with a slack re-, vmoving device attached thereto and shownin part, horizontal section;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the machine on any enlarged scale, with parts of the slack removing device shown :in section, and with the discharge spout-in a difierent position of adjustment than;

shownin Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line. 3-3 of Figure 1, showing details of the drive connec-.

tions for the slack removing device; -.Figure 4 is a plan detailview of the rotary sweepfo'rming part ofmy invention; ixFigure 5 is a fragmentary rear view showing modified form of discharge spout invertical sec--,

tion; and v I Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail view showing the arrangement of the cuttings discharge. spout. so as to reduce the amount of .coal dust, released:

into the air.

- Referring now to details ofthe embodiment of;

myinvention illustated in the drawings,the

slack removing'device is, in the main, of the sameconstruction and arrangement as that disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,320,004 previously 're- 'ferred to, so the main parts thereof may be described more or less generally, excepting as to those features'which will presently be set forth as forming-the subject matterof the invention. 1

' 'I'heslack removing device is shown as applied;

to a kerf-cutting machine I of conventional room and pillar type, including a main frame H havingv a cutter bar l2 projecting forwardly therefrom. As usual, a cutter chain I3 is driven about said cutter bar and operates in a cuttings channel-extending beneath a motor I4 for the machine, and defined by side walls I5, I5 and a base plate IS, The cutter chain is driven by sprocket" suitably drivenby the motor l4 so as 10 to. bring the cuttings rearwardly through the cuttings channeland discharge them at the rear endof the -machine. A flexible feeding means may also be provided for the machineas usual, comprising a pair of winding drums l8, l8, also suitably driven by the motor and adapted to have flexible cables wound thereon and arranged to be anchored at suitable points adjacent the working face,.to feedthe cutter bar to the coal and along the coal face.

.The slack removing device includes a tubular casing 20 extending transversely across the cuttings-channel'at the rear end of the machine. Said tubular casing has an elongated cuttings receiving aperture 2| on its inner side opposite an immediately adjacent the cutter chain sprocket so that the cuttings brought rearwardly by the cutter chain will be directed into the aperture 2|.

The casing 20 may beconnected to the mining machine frame in any suitable manner, which need not be described in detail. Said casing is arranged to close the rear end of the cuttings channel so that all of the cuttings must pass through and be discharged by the slack removing device.

' Baille plates 22 and 23 are suitably disposed in .the cuttings channel at opposite sides of the cut- 'tings,receiving aperture 2| to assist in directing the cuttings into the latter.

4() I The outlet end of the tubular conveyor casing 20 is provided with a discharge tube 25, herein consisting of an eblow 26 rotatably mounted on the end of said casing, and having an extension tube 21' secured thereto and arranged at an angle to; to-the axis of said tubular casing. The elbow is' telescopically mounted on the end of said .casing and has a bolt .28' removably inserted therethroughwhich extends into an'annular groove 29 formed around the end of. said casing so as to permit the desired rotationalg'adjustrnent of the discharge tube. at varying positions. Thus said discharge. tube can either be disposed horizontally at .an angle toward the front or rear of the machine,..or swung toanyintermediate elevated 56; angle, as desired. For instance, Figure 1 shows machine make 'it necessary to introduce the loose material into an open side of the conveyer tube,

rather than into the top thereofpasis the preferred practice with conveyers of this kind. As a result, it has been found that in many cases the cuttings are not discharged satisfactorily, p'artic charge tube 21 is adjusted at an elevated angle and it-is necessary to elevate the cuttings to a considerable height.

A further disadvantage of coal cutting ma- 1 chines generally, and mechanical cuttings disularly with certain kinds of cuttings, which tend to become lodged in the rear end of the cutting machine in such a manner that only a relatively small percentage finds its way out of the screw conveyer, and the rest is dragged back into the keri by the cutter chain.

I have found that this difficulty can be overcome, however, by providing a rotating agitator, or sweep, indicated at 30, which herein consists of a member having a hub 3| secured to the bottom of the cutter chain sprocket I! as by a nut 32 and having four radially extending arms 33, 33. Said arms preferably extend horizontally in close relation to the base plate IS with their extreme ends curved upwardly well beyond the reach of the cutter chain l3 so that they may extend into close proximity to the bottom edge of the cuttings receiving aperture 2| of the conveyer tube casing 20, as shown in Figures 1 and 3; It will be noted further in Figure 3, that the forwardly projecting baffle plate 23 which defines the 11p- 7 right edge of the discharge'opening' 2| at its discharge end, is disposed substantially tangentialto the pathof movement of said arms. Eachof the arms 33 preferably has a relatively flat base 34 tapering towards its end and with an upright fin 35 running lengthwise thereof. With the rotating arms driven by the cutter chain driveshaft in this manner, I find that practically all the cuttings can be directed into and be carried away by the screw conveyen'in a much more positive manner than in previous devices.

Referring now more particularly to the flexible conveyer member which constitutes one of the principal features of the present invention, said member consists of two screw portions 40 and 4| rotatably mounted inthe tubular'casing 20 and the extension tube 21, respectively.- The blade of the screw 40 is fixed on a tubular shaft 43 which is suitably driven at one end, as by adrive shaft 44 journaled in spaced apart anti-friction bearing members 45, 46 in a housing 4-! which encloses one end of the tubular casing: 20"., The opposite, or discharge, end of the screw 40 floats freely in the casing 20 excepting for such bearing as may be provided by the edges of the screw blades. d

The drive shaft '44 is operatively connected as usual to the motor l4 through suitable gearing which need not be described in detail, as: it forms no part of the present invention.

The outer screw 4| is connected to the end of the screw 40 by a suitable flexible coupling, herein consisting of a universal coupling 49 connecting the outer end of shaft 43 of screw 40 to a shaft 50 and a second universalcoupling 5| connected to shaft 52 of screw 4|, so that the screw 4| is free to adjust itself in the extension tube in-all of thevarious angular positions of the latter.v

charge devices in particular, is the large amount 'of coal dust which is discharged into the air as the cuttings emerge from the machine. Such air-borne coal dust is not only detrimental to the health of the miners, but constitutes a dangerous condition often leading to explosions in the mine.

It will be observed that with the arrangement of the discharge tube 25 shown and described, its outer end is normally free to rest by gravity on the mine floor, as the machine is slowly fed along the mine face. In practice, I find that the cuttings discharged at the end of. said tube tend to form in a pile, as shown in Figure 6, which pile 1 soon surrounds and completely covers the end of said tube. All subsequently discharged cuttings will then be deposited within the pile, to build up the, latter from the inside, instead of being discharged directly intothe open air. I find that due to this arrangement for controlling the cuttings, discharge, the amount of free coal dust which finds its way into the air is greatly reduced, as compared with the usual form of coal cutting machine, either with or Without a mechanicalcuttings discharge attachment.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it' will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting my invention to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I 'cl'aim as my invention:

1 Incombinationwith akerf-cutting machine having a frame, a cutter chain, a cutter bar for said chain having a portion extending through a cuttings dischargepassag'e in said frame, a drive member for said chain adjacent the rear end of said passage, er-cuttings discharge device including a horizontally disposed casing in cuttings receiving relation at. the rear end of said passage and having a. screw conveyer element therein, a-rotary sweep element mounted in. said passage concentric with and below said chain drive member, including a plurality of propelling arms extending outwardly beyond the reach of said cutter chain into close proximity with said screw element to feed the cuttings, directly to the latter, and means for driving said rotary sweep element in the samedirection as said chain drive member.

2. In combination with a kerf-cutting machine. having a frame, a chain carrying cutter bar having a portion extending through a cuttings discharge passage insaid frame, a cuttings discharge including a horizontally disposed casing having an inlet opening at one side thereof for receiving the cuttings from said passage and discharging them at a distance from said machine, and a rotary sweep element mounted in said passage below said cutter bar, including a plurality of arms curving upwardly at their ends into close proximity with said inlet opening, and means.

for driving said rotary sweep element. v

3. In combination with a kerf-cutting machine having a frame, a, chain carrying cutter bar having a portion extending through a cuttings discharge passage in said frame, a cutter chain on said cutter bar having a drive element adjacent the outlet end of said passage, a cuttings discharge device including a horizontally disposed casing in cuttings receiving relation at the outlet end of said passage and having a screw conveyer element therein, and a sweep element mounted concentrically on and rotating with said drive element below said cutter chain, and having a plurality of propelling arms extending be yond the reach of said cutter chain into close proximity with said screw element to feed the cuttings directly to the latter.

4. In combination with a kerf-cutting machine having a frame, a chain carrying cutter bar having a portion extending through a cuttings discharge passage in said frame, a cutter chain on said cutter bar having a drive element adjacent the outlet end of said passage, a cuttings discharge device including a horizontally disposed casing having an inlet opening at one side thereof for receiving the cuttings from said passage and discharging them at a distance from said machine, and a sweep element mounted on and rotated by said cutter chain drive element adjacent the bottom of said passage and having a plurality of arms curving upwardly into close proximity with said inlet opening.

WILLIAM .T. MCCULLOUGH. 

